


A Happy Mistake

by Polomonkey



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Background Merthur, Banter, Bickering, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Humor, Sharing a Bed, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-06
Updated: 2018-01-06
Packaged: 2019-02-28 23:28:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13282152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Polomonkey/pseuds/Polomonkey
Summary: “I don’t suppose you've considered the possibility of ceasing this farce and attending Gwen’s wedding alone like a mature, self-actualised adult?”“Shut up, Arthur,” Morgana and Merlin said in sync, which was a party trick they’d been perfecting for a while.Morgana absolutely refuses to show up without a date to her ex's wedding. Surely taking Vivian can't be so bad?





	A Happy Mistake

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Merlinsdeheune (sindhunathi)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sindhunathi/gifts).



> A fic for the lovely Merlinsdeheune, who I hope will enjoy this pairing! Also written for my h/c bingo square 'skeletons in the closet', though Vivian's skeletons are of an extremely fluffy kind...
> 
> The wonderful sophinisba made a podfic for this fic, check it out in the end notes!

Three weeks before Gwen’s wedding, Morgana went round to Arthur and Merlin’s to ask for help. Specifically, where to find a wedding date so she didn’t show up on her ex’s special day looking like the world’s biggest loser.

It was not going well.

“How about Sefa?” Merlin said, from where he was hanging upside down off the couch. He claimed it was his thinking position, though it wasn’t exactly optimal for swigging from the prosecco bottle they were sharing.

“She’s in a relationship,” Morgana said gloomily. “I tried to hit on her at Elyan’s birthday and she got in a right snit.”

“Freya?”

“Nah, she’s scared of me,” Morgana said, smirking slightly.

“Sophia?”

“Nah, Morgana’s scared of her,” Arthur put in smugly.

“I am not! I just take… necessary precautions.”

Like staying fifty foot away from Sophia the blonde devil, who might have been heartbreakingly beautiful but had a penchant for catastrophically ruining people’s lives.

“Umm.”

Merlin pondered, taking a gulp of prosecco. Which was difficult to do upside down, and their brainstorm had to be cut short in favour of a brief choking session.

“What about Mordred’s ex Kara?” Merlin said, when his face had returned to its normal colour.

“Anger management Kara? Sent Mordred live bees Kara? Screams at pensioners for crossing the road too slow Kara?”

“Beggars can’t be choosers,” Merlin pointed out and Morgana had to concede that point.

“I don’t suppose either of you have considered the possibility of ceasing this farce and attending Gwen’s wedding alone like a mature, self-actualised adult?”

“Shut _up,_ Arthur,” Morgana and Merlin said in sync, which was a party trick they’d been perfecting for a while.

“Have I ever mentioned how glad I am that you two met?” Arthur said drily, replacing the newspaper over his face.

“ _Anyway_ … Mithian?”

“Ooh yeah,” Morgana said, perking up.  But then Merlin’s face fell (tricky to spot while he was upside down but Morgana managed it).

“Oh crap no, she’s Lance’s plus one. They hooked up at Christmas, I keep forgetting.”

“Ugh. What does Lance have that I don’t?” Morgana said grumpily.

“Manners? Patience? Dreamy whirlpool eyes that- hey!”

Merlin had pulled himself upright for the purpose of lobbing a cushion at Arthur.

“Can you not drool over Lance’s dreamy eyes in front of me please?”

“Consider it revenge for ogling Gwaine’s arse at footie – yes I noticed Merlin, you’ve never paid so much attention to a game in your life-”

“-as though it’s my fault you all wear those tiny shorts-”

“-I’ve got a better arse than Gwaine anyway-”

“Boys,” Morgana said, and when that failed to attract attention, banged her fork on the side of the bottle.

“You making a toast?” Arthur said irritably.

“Yeah, perhaps I should practice. Hi Gwen, sorry for showing up solo at your wedding like a pathetic loser. I hope you and Elena have a wonderful life together and I hope I don’t choke to death alone in my flat tonight. Cheers!”

“Short and sweet,” Merlin said bracingly. “Bit of a dark finish but…”

“Oh for God’s sake, enough of this pity party,” Arthur said, suddenly springing to his feet. He grabbed the prosecco bottle and held it above his head, ignoring the indignant whining noises Morgana and Merlin made.

“There’s a friend of Elena’s I met recently. Smart, sharp, easy on the eye. If you two promise to give me some peace and quiet to finish the crossword, I will furnish you with her number.”

“As though anyone trusts your taste in women,” Morgana said automatically, but her curiosity had been piqued.

“I have excellent taste in women, it’s why I hang out with you so infrequently. And you’ll like Vivian. Trust me.”

Morgana looked at Merlin, who shrugged.

“I haven’t met her but most friends of Elena’s are pretty nice to be fair.”

“Hmm. Well. You’ll put in a good word for me?”

“What are brothers for?” Arthur said with a little smile, handing the prosecco back.

Perhaps Arthur wasn’t so bad after all.

 

***

 

Arthur was the worst man alive and if Morgana got the chance she’d fill his tux with itching powder. Vivian was a _nightmare_.

Sure, the first impression had been good. A petite woman in a fetching red dress and a pair of impressively killer heels. With her wide blue eyes and her soft blonde hair, there was almost something angelic about her. Then she opened her mouth and Morgana revised her opinion to minion of Satan.

“Why did you wear green?” she demanded, before Morgana had even formed the word hello. “We completely clash now. Can’t you change?”

“Er, no,” Morgana said, wondering if she was joking.

Vivian huffed loudly.

“Well, that’s inconvenient. You’ll just have to stand behind me for the photos.”

“Are you… are you serious?”

“Yes, obviously,” Vivian said, like Morgana was a moron. “Honestly, you shouldn’t even be wearing green, it brings out your yellow skin undertones.”

“Wow. Um. I think we’re getting off on the wrong foot here if you-”

But Vivian had already stalked off to the open bar, leaving Morgana to stare open-mouthed after her.

Perhaps she was just nervous? Surely no one could be _that_ unpleasant.

But Vivian quickly proved her wrong.

“God, isn’t it an ugly venue? Like, had the architect even heard of favourable uplighting?”

“I’m super sure whoever built this _church_ had nothing more important to consider than the goal of favourable uplighting,” Morgana said through gritted teeth.

“Right? Hey, waiter!”

Vivian clicked her fingers at Lance, who quickened his pace to get away from her.

“Vivian, that’s my friend Lance,” Morgana hissed.

“That boring guy?” Vivian said, about five decibels too loud. “God, he cornered me by the chocolate fountain and started talking about saving the whale or the tiger or woodlice or something. So dull.”

“It was the rhino,” Lance said plaintively, having heard from ten feet away. “There are less than a hundred Javan rhinos left in-”

“Rhinos are gross,” Vivian said decisively. “Does anyone have mobile reception?”

Morgana watched as Mithian placed a comforting hand on Lance’s arm. That could have been her being comforted by Mithian! Instead she was on a date with a woman that the Furies themselves would probably find a bit vindictive.

Lance wasn’t the only one to receive the Vivian Treatment. She dismissed Freya as a ‘milksop’, Leon a ‘poor man’s Mick Hucknall’ and Arthur a ‘disgraced cabinet minister in the making’. Okay, Morgana did laugh at that one but only because her evil brother deserved all he got. Merlin also had a snigger, though he quickly sobered up when Vivian asked if he styled his hair like that for a bet.

Vivian finally quietened down when they all took their seats for the actual ceremony, but only just. Morgana was pretty sure she was mumbling insults about the hymn choices under her breath, but she tuned her out and tried to focus.

Gwen looked absolutely beautiful walking down the aisle. Morgana was pleased to find she didn’t feel a hint of jealousy or regret seeing her. They hadn’t been right for each other. From the joy on Elena’s face, she knew the two of them were a much better match.

Her warm and fuzzy feelings quickly evaporated when the ceremony was over and she was confined to a dinner table with Vivian for the next three hours. After an hour of dancing in which Vivian somehow sought her out like a homing beacon to complain about the DJ’s song choices (‘ugh, so many ballads’), Morgana was ready to call it a night and retire early.

But it transpired that the icing on the shit sandwich that was this wedding, and Morgana’s life in general, was that she and Vivian were sharing a room. With one double bed.

It was the last straw. Morgana had just about been holding it together but there was only so much one human could endure. If she heard one more peep out of Vivian tonight…

“I hope you don’t snore,” Vivian sniffed as she kicked her stilettos off.

“Well I hope that a portal of hell doesn’t open up in the night and DRAG YOU BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM!” Morgana said, in a tone that could reasonably be described as a scream.

“Excuse me?”

“You are a demon! I have never met anyone so unrepentantly awful in my entire existence! I’m seriously wondering what I did in a past life to deserve this!”

“Please don’t be dramatic,” Vivian said, sitting down on the end of the bad and massaging her feet. “If anything, I’m the one being punished – I had to spend all day with your ghastly friends.”

“Unbelievable!”

“It was. I suppose it’d be rude if I asked whether they were on day release from a prison of some kind?”

Morgana slumped down in a chair, reached for the bottle of wine she’d sneaked out of the reception. And people had called her difficult in the past! Compared to Vivian, Morgana was the Dalai sodding Lama.

“I’ve never known someone so horrible,” she said, voice muffled.

“Oh, cry me a river. I am who I am. I tell the truth and I call it like I see it. If people can’t handle that, it’s no concern of mine.”

Vivian got off the bed and limped towards the bathroom.

“Now I’m running a footbath. Cushioned stilettos, my arse. That idiot shop assistant’ll be getting a piece of my mind next week.”

Morgana wondered if it was too late to ask to sleep on Arthur and Merlin’s floor. Ugh, but then again, they’d probably _do_ things, wouldn’t they?

She was trying to decide whether it was worse to hear her best friend and her brother having sex, or to stay here and get speared by Vivian’s forked tail in the night, when the aforementioned demon called out to her.

“Make yourself useful and pass the blister pads from my bag.”

Morgana snatched the clutch bag up and tipped it upside down on the bed, fully intending to throw the blister pads out of the window and possibly the rest of Vivian’s belongings with them. Her overstuffed wallet fell open, spilling cards everywhere, and Morgana raised a hand to swipe them off the bed. Childish, maybe, but she’d really reached her limit.

Then she stopped, hand poised in mid-air. She spread the cards out on the bed, taking a good long look at each of them.

“Hello?” Vivian called after a minute. “Jeez, can you do anything right?”

“You’re full of shit,” Morgana said triumphantly.

“What?”

Vivian stepped back into the room and Morgana gestured to the bed expansively.

“Look at this,” she said, tapping the duvet. “Blood donor card. First Aider. Big Sister mentor scheme. WWF Membership – what was that earlier about how rhinos are gross?”

“Rhinos _are_ gross,” Vivian said with great dignity. “I request that my money only goes to the cute animals.”

“Liar,” Morgana said, unable to stop the grin splitting her face. “You’re a good person. You care about others. You’re… you’re nice!”

Vivian made a face like she’d been stabbed with a butter knife.

“I am not _nice_.”

“Oh yes you are!” Morgana said gleefully. “You’re cuddly! You’re sweet! You’re practically a Care Bear!”

Vivian’s face had gone extremely red, it was immensely satisfying to see.

“Shut up!”

“Now, are you more like Cheer Bear or Funshine Bear? I wonder…”

“Oh yeah? Well, if I’m so nice, how come I was using you today?” Vivian burst out. “Yeah, that’s right, I only agreed to go with you because Ellie’s my ex and I didn’t want to show up alone to her wedding!”

There was a moment of silence before Morgana burst out laughing and Vivian’s eyebrows practically shot off her head.

“What?” she demanded, cheeks flushed.

“I guess we’re just two arseholes in a pod,” Morgana said. “Because I only brought you so I wouldn’t have to go alone to _my_ ex Gwen’s wedding.”

“You did what?” Vivian shrieked. “How dare you?”

“How dare I? You did the same thing!”

“Yes but I’m… I’m…”

All of a sudden, Vivian seemed to deflate. She sat down heavily on the bed and began sweeping her cards back into her handbag.

“Weddings suck,” she mumbled.

“That we can agree on,” Morgana said.

Vivian looked up at her.

“Really?”

“Ugh, totally. They’re boring and they go on too long and all the speeches are sickly sweet.”

A little smile appeared at the corner of Vivian’s mouth.

“And the food’s always bland,” she said.

“DJ’s usually rubbish.”

“Conversation’s dry.”

“It costs loads of money.”

“And there’s never enough wine!” they said in sync.

Morgana grinned and after a moment Vivian returned it.

“Well, I can fix that anyway.”

She pulled the stolen wine out from behind the chair and took a long swig, before passing it over to Vivian.

“So what’s going on? You still in love with Elena?”

“No!” Vivian said. “We were a horrible couple. Completely disastrous. But… we’ve been best friends since we were eight. We always did everything together. And now she’s… gone on ahead.”

“So you thought you’d be horrible to everyone at her wedding in revenge?”

“Look, I might be having a slightly bad day,” Vivian said with dignity. “But most of my comments were at least partly true.”

She gave Morgana a considering look.

“You still in love with Gwen, then?”

“Very much not. But I got stupidly hung up on not showing up single to her wedding. Which is how I ended up in this mess.”

“Oi!”

Morgana grinned.

“Oh, you know what I mean. I suppose it could have been worse.”

“Yeah, I mean, you could have worn orange.”

Morgana snorted.

“Oh look at that, I seem to have had the requisite amount of alcohol to find your bitchiness funny.”

“You’re no delicate flower yourself,” Vivian said pointedly and Morgana could see her point. Probably one of the main reasons she and Gwen hadn’t worked out was that Morgana’s sense of humour had been a little too sharp and dark. She could admit that she quite liked her partner to be a challenge in that regard.

“Maybe not.”

Vivian rubbed at her feet again, a little pathetically, and Morgana sighed.

“Oh, give over.”

She sat down on the bed and pulled Vivian’s feet in her lap.

“Not that you deserve this,” she said, as she began massaging. “But I’m not listening to you whine about your sore feet all night.”

“Yeah, well I- ohh. Ohhh that feels really good.”

Morgana smirked. She was a dab hand at foot massages if she did say so herself. And Vivian seemed to agree, if the noises she was making were any indication. Her moans were almost…

Sexual.

Well, she was an attractive girl. She was even quite fun, once she’d stopped being a hell demon. Could Morgana really go there?

Morgana stopped massaging and Vivian made an indignant noise.

“I was enjoying that!”

“I could tell,” Morgana said, not bothering to keep the suggestiveness out of her tone.

“So why don’t you- oh.”

Vivian cottoned on quick.

“You have something better to do?”

“We could make a mistake?” Morgana said, raising her eyebrows.

Vivian pretended to contemplate.

“I have heard that’s what weddings are for.”

“Be rude not to, almost,” Morgana said. “Double bed, and all.”

“Well, since they went to so much trouble…”

They looked at each other a moment then both surged forward.

Vivian kissed like a wild animal, tugging at Morgana’s hair, nipping at her lip. It was the exact opposite of a nice, gentle kiss, and Morgana loved it. And when Vivian ripped her dress off to reveal a midnight blue lace bra and some rather tiny underwear, Morgana loved it even more.

The scratches down her back would fade in time, no doubt. That’s if Morgana didn’t go back to Vivian for a top up.

 

***

 

The next morning, Arthur cornered Morgana by the breakfast buffet.

“Look, Morgs, I swear I didn’t know Vivian would be like this. I’m genuinely sorry for dropping you in it and- woah, is that a love bite?!”

Morgana gave him a smug smile, relishing the shock on his face.

“We may have made a mistake last night. And to be honest, brother dear, it’s probably one I’m going to be making again very soon.”

Arthur looked scandalised.

“But she’s… she’s awful!”

“She’s actually not so bad! She’s kinda nice, really.”

“Morgana, are you sure that’s a good idea?” Arthur said, frowning.

“I think it’s a _great_ idea,” Vivian said sweetly, appearing from nowhere. “That tie with those shoes on the other hand…”

“Okay, so maybe nice is the wrong word,” Morgana said and Vivian gave her a peck on the cheek.

“I’m just the way you like me,” she said, and funnily enough, Morgana didn’t feel inclined to disagree.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Podfic] A Happy Mistake](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13796331) by [sophinisba](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sophinisba/pseuds/sophinisba)




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